Rex cuts flights; can't find enough pilots

Oops. Upwardly mobile Australian airline Rex is cutting its flights on nine regional routes across four states from May 1, citing a "chronic" shortage of pilots.

Among the destinations affected by the schedule changes will be Cairns, remote Bamaga, Broken Hill, Wagga Wagga and Mount Gambier.

As well as the pilot shortage, Rex says it is also suffering from a lack of engineers and aircraft parts shortages that are affecting its fleet of Saab 340 turboprop planes, Travel Mole reports.

“These adjustments are necessitated by the chronic shortage of airline professionals, particularly pilots and engineers,” said Warrick Lodge, Rex GM of network strategy. .

“We pledge to reinstate the services once the situation has stabilised.”

The Mildura-Adelaide service will be grounded completely while another four routes will see new schedules.

Visiting Macao? Expect to pay more for your hotel room

Your hotel room in Macao might well cost you more this year - and service quality might well have dropped.

Severe staff shortages have left thousands of Macao hotel rooms closed in the short term, Travel Mole reports.

The lack of staff is leading to room rate increases and a drop in service quality, the Macau Responsible Gaming Association says.

Some of the major Macao hotel resorts have up to half their rooms shuttered.

The gaming reliant Macao economy needs a high number of migrant workers but has struggled to fill hospitality positions as inbound visitor numbers rise

“We didn’t expect the reopening would come so fast, so everybody’s unprepared,” said association president Billy Song.

“After three dismal years, we all want to make the best out of this year, but now that customers have come, we don’t have enough capacity to receive them.”

Some Macao hotels have ditched daily housekeeping and are only cleaning rooms after guests check out - which is unlikely to impress high-end guests.

Thousands of hotel rooms have been cut from booking systems as well as the cutback on guest services.

Over 44,000 foreign employees have left Macao since early 2020 due to pandemic closures.